1 Samuel 17:43

17:40-47 The security and presumption of fools destroy them. Nothing can excel the humility, faith, and piety which appear in David's words. He expressed his assured expectation of success; he gloried in his mean appearance and arms, that the victory might be ascribed to the Lord alone.

And the Philistine said unto David, am I a dog?.... Truly David did not think him much better, because of his impudence, impurity, and barking blasphemy against God, and the armies of Israel; the Targum is,"am I a despised dog?'' verily he was by David: that thou comest to me with staves? or with a staff, the plural for the singular, to beat him with it as a dog is beaten, and as David used to beat his dog with, while keeping his father's sheep, when the dog he had with him did not do his business as he should; he says nothing of his sling and stones, they being out of sight: and the Philistine cursed David by his gods: by Dagon and others; he made an imprecation by them, and wished the greatest evils might befall him from them; he devoted him to them, and doubted not to make a sacrifice of him.

(43) Am I a dog? —The Philistine warrior—as the shepherd boy, all unarmed, drew near—rose apparently, for he was seated, as was often the custom with these heavily-clad warriors of antiquity when not actually engaged in combat, and coming towards David, taunted him and his cause with the most contemptuous expressions. “Am I a dog,” he asked—and dogs are animals held in many parts of the East in great contempt—“that you come against me with sticks and staves?” The LXX. missed the force of this plural “of contempt,” and altering the text, translates “with staff and with stones.” By his gods.—This should be rendered by his God. No doubt the idolator here made use of the sacred Name, so dear to every believing Israelite, thus defying the Eternal of Hosts.

42-47. the Philistine said … said David to the Philistine—When the two champions met, they generally made each of them a speech, and sometimes recited some verses, filled with allusions and epithets of the most opprobrious kind, hurling contempt and defiance at one another. This kind of abusive dialogue is common among the Arab combatants still. David's speech, however, presents a striking contrast to the usual strain of these invectives. It was full of pious trust, and to God he ascribed all the glory of the triumph he anticipated.

When he saw David, "he looked at him, and despised him," i.e., he looked at him contemptuously, because he was a youth (as in 1 Samuel 16:12 ); "and then said to him, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with sticks?" (the plural מקלות is used in contemptuous exaggeration of the armour of David, which appeared so thoroughly unfit for the occasion); "and cursed David by his God (i.e., making use of the name of Jehovah in his cursing, and thus defying not David only, but the God of Israel also), and finished with the challenge, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of heaven and the beasts of the field" (to eat). It was with such threats as these that Homer's heroes used to defy one another (vid., Hector's threat, for example, in Il. xiii. 831-2).

21 . a goodly man ] Lit. a man of appearance , a notable man; which is explained in 1 Chronicles 11:23 to mean “a man of great stature,” with the addition, “five cubits high.” a spear ] The Sept. adds, like the beam of a bridge (or, of a ladder ): Chron. like a weaver’s beam , as in ch. 2 Samuel 21:19 . with a staff ] Cp. (though the word is different) 1 Samuel 17:40 ; 1 Samuel 17:43 .

Ch. 20. Sheba’s Rebellion 1, 2. Fresh outbreak of rebellion, headed by Sheba 1 . there ] At Gilgal. The dispute offered an immediate opening to a bold and ambitious leader, who hoped to restore the sovereignty to the tribe of Benjamin. a man of Belial ] A worthless or wicked man. Cp. 1 Samuel 10:27 , and note on 1 Samuel 1:16 . the son of Bichri ] Rather, a Bichrite , or member of the clan tracing its descent from Becher the second son of Benjamin ( Genesis 46:21 ). part ] Better, portion , a different word from that in ch. 2 Samuel 19:43 , and the same as that in 1 Kings 12:16 . the son of Jesse ] There is a touch of contempt in this name for David. Cp. 1 Samuel 20:27 ; 1 Samuel 20:30-31 ; 1 Samuel 22:7-9 ; 1 Samuel 22:13 ; 1 Samuel 25:10 . every man to his tents ] Nominally a call to disperse and return to their homes ( 1 Samuel 13:2 ; 2 Samuel 18:17 ); really an invitation to join him in rebellion. The same words served as the signal for the revolt from Rehoboam ( 1 Kings 12:16 ).